Take Me Home
by kalakat08
Summary: Nico gets hurt while delivering the Athena Parthenos, Jason and Percy have a weird argument about who gets to carry him. Jason and Percy are idiots, Nico's uncomfortable, and everyones confused. mainly pernico but some jasico, like I said everyones a mess. Please favorite and review! Cover art by Viria


Nico knew they had finally hit land again, when he heard the shouts of demigods and the clashing of metal stop abruptly. He leaned against the forty foot statue, taking deep breaths, trying to recover from the long journey they had just made.

"Are you okay?" Reyna asked, kneeling down beside Nico. He nodded his head and waved his hand in the air, signaling for her to begin her speech. With a small grunt, Reyna turned her back onto Nico and reached her hands out to the two camps, her purple praetor cloak fluttering in the breeze. Although she had multiple cuts and bruises, she looked as powerful as she ever did in New Rome.

"Citizens of New Rome, Campers of Camp Half Blood, Greeks and Romans, behold the Athena Parthenos…" the speech continued but Nico began to zone out, he had heard her practice the speech a million times and practically knew the thing himself. It sounded much more convincing when she said it but, the speech was something along the lines of, 'Hey guys, we just traveled across the world to bring you back this statue. Stop your fighting, make peace with each other, or we're all going to die."

Nico was starting to feel lightheaded by the time the speech was over. He assumed by the amount of cheering that the camps had decided to make amends, and he watched as the crowd of orange and purple seemed to blend together. His vision was blocked by Reyna kneeling down next to him.

"Nico? Hey, you in there? That went surprisingly well, although I can tell Octavian isn't happy," she allowed herself a small smile,"you should have seen his face...Nico? Nico! Oh gods, you're bleeding a lot!" Using her knife, Reyna cut away the black denim that was covering the gash on his leg, revealing a deep cut on his upper thigh.

"When did that even happen?" Nico mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Maybe if you didn't wear black so much we would have found it sooner...hang on, I'm going to go get help."

"Mhpfffmm…" Nico grumbled in response. He sat slumped against the statue for a minute before Hedge came trotting over.

"What are you doing, cupcake?! On your feet now, we got a war to end!" The satyr gave what was supposed to be a menacing war cry, (it really just sounded like a dying goat), and leaped away, screaming random threats at campers. Nico blinked, but his eyes glued together and he felt himself sinking into a fast sleep. The next thing he knew, someone was shaking his shoulder and shouting his name. When he managed to open his eyes, he saw that Reyna was back with his 'friends'.

"Nico! What happened?" Hazel flung herself forward, and immediately began fussing over him. Jason wasn't far behind, as he knelt on his other side and held his hand.

"_Don't touch me_," Nico thought in his head but, could only manage a slight groan. Being surrounded by this many people made Nico anxious, so he closed his eyes and prayed that he would pass out or something, just to get away from all the looks.

"He's losing a lot of blood, he needs medical attention, now." Reyna said. Hazel's fussing hesitated for a second and Nico could tell his sister was trying to analyze Reyna. Nobody, least of all Nico, had expected Reyna and him to actual become friends, so her looking out for him must come as a big shock to everyone. Nico heard the sound of loose motor bolts clacking together, and he knew Leo had come over to inspect the scene.

"Um, yeah, that does not look good." Leo said, taking a few steps back.

"Thank you for your imput, Leo, but that really isn't helping." Jason said, and the son of Hades could practically feel the glare the blonde sent to his best friend.

"_Well_, somebodys a bit grumpy today…" Leo replied in a teasing tone.

"C'mon Leo, lets go inspect the statue." Annabeth mumbled, grabbing the mechanics arm and pulling him away. Hazel turned her attention back to Nico and laced a hand through his hair.

"Somebodys gonna have to carry him, I have to go help unload the Argo but, Frank do you think you could-"

"I'll carry him."

Nico's eyes snapped open as Percy's words flowed through his ears, awakening all his senses. The son of Poseidon's green eyes were staring at the cut on Nico's leg in concern, making Nico want to cover up his exposed thigh and literally fall through the ground.

"No, no, no, _no_, that will not be necessary." Nico said, already trying to get up, "I am completely fine, just a little tired. I can walk back myself-oh!" As Nico tried to stand up, his legs turned to jello and he began to fall forward.

Right into Percy's arms.

Percy smiled down at Nico, that stupid, _stupid_ smile that sent his heart into overdrive.

"_Damn you legs_," Nico thought.

"I don't think you can walk back yourself," Percy teased, already shifting the injured teen in his arms to make it easier to pick him up. Hazel walked over and brushed away the hair from her brothers face.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to go help. Are you gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine. You know me, Hazel, I'm mister responsible, I'll escort Nico here to the doctor myself and see to it that he is all patched up." The son of Poseidon flashed Hazel a wide grin, causing her to shake her head.

"I'll come visit you as soon as I can." She whispered in Nico's ear, before kissing him on the head and running off, towing Frank behind her. As Percy reached down to scoop up Nico, he was suddenly blocked by Jason.

Jason's smile was tense as he managed to get a better hold on Nico, sandwiching the son of Hades between the two of them.

"You look a bit tired Percy, maybe you should go take a nap while I carry Nico."

Percy's eyes immediately clouded over at Jason's challenging tone. His grip on Nico tightened and he pulled the boy even closer to him, yanking slightly for Jason to let go.

"It's alright Jason, I think I can handle it." Percy teased, but there was a layer of annoyance under his words.

"You know," Nico whispered from in between them, "I think Frank was going to carry me-"

"Frank can't carry you because he needs to help move the statue to a safer place." Percy interrupted, not even looking at Nico. Both demigods were having a stare down over who got to carry Nico to the infirmary, and it was making Nico extremely uncomfortable. He knew Jason wanted to because he knew about Nico's crush, but he had no idea why Percy would want to.

"How about we let Nico decide," Jason suggested, a light smile gracing his lips. Percy's own smile faltered before looking down to lock with Nico's. The green swirled around, mixing with the hints of blue and grey in his eyes. It was honestly as if someone bottled the sea, and Nico felt himself drowning in them.

"...ughhh, well-"

"Percy! Can you come over here, theres something I want you to look at!" Annabeth had her face an inch away from the bottom of the statue and seemed very invested on one square inch of it. Percy began loosening his grip on Nico, and gently placed him more comfortably in Jason's arms.

"He's all yours, bud." Percy smiled and slapped Jason on the back, as if they didn't just have a silent argument about who got to carry Nico. He looked down at the boy in Jason's arms and grinned.

"Feel better, okay? Don't do any crazy raise the dead rituals or create an entire army of the undead, alright?" Percy laughed, causing Nico's face to break into a small smile. He watched his crushed retreating form until Jason has carried him out of eyesight. Nico immediately snapped back into his old self, and gave Jason a whack over the head.

"_What were you thinking?_" Nico hissed, venom coating every word. Jason looked down at him and rolled his sky blue eyes, igniting the fire in Nico's black eyes even more.

"Honestly Nico, would you really want Percy carrying you right now?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't want anyone to carry me!" Nico snapped, crossing his arms and refusing to look at Jason. He felt the blonde staring at him, and after a while couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you staring at me?" Nico grumbled.

Jason was silent for a moment before answering quietly, "I'm just trying to look out for you, Nico. I know how you feel about him and I would never want to put you in an uncomfortable position. I'm sorry if I ever-"

"UGHHHHH!" Nico groaned loudly, throwing his head back, "I forgive you! Now please stop, I can already sense the lecture coming."

Jason laughed and his smile glowed like the sun as he carried the boy through camp to the infirmary.

Nico sat in a hospital bed, examining the new gauze wrapped around his leg. To get his injury patched up, the duo had ended up standing in a waiting line for a few hours. Although the Greeks and Romans never did end up in a full blown war, a minor battle had occurred and multiple demigods were injured, luckily no deaths. When they had finally gotten everything cleaned and wrapped up, Jason had fallen asleep in the first chair he saw. His sister had come and gone, bringing Frank and Reyna with her, cheering Nico up more than he expected. Piper and Leo came looking for Jason at one point, and joked and chatted around with Nico when they saw Jason was passed out. Thankfully, they left before things got too awkward. Nico was still reflecting on their visit, when he saw a flash of raven hair poke around the wall divider.

"Are you whole again?" Percy asked with a smile, stepping into the room.

Nico could only manage a nod as Percy sat on the edge of his bed, lying down so he was covering Nico's legs horizontally.

"What did Annabeth want to show you?" Nico asked, studying his hands to avoid looking Percy in the eye. He heard the brunette laugh and felt him stretch on top of him.

"There was a...speck of dirt on the statue and Annabeth thought it was something important...I don't know, she got pretty disappointed when Leo wiped it off." He was chuckling as he said it, and Nico found himself really liking the way it sounded.

"_Stop that_," he scolded himself.

In the corner, Jason snorted and turned around in the chair, trying to get more comfortable. Like a dog distracted by something new, Percy wiped his head around without getting up, causing himself to now lay on his stomach. Nico watched as Percy smiled softly, and turned to look at Nico through the corner of his eye.

"He really cares about you...I didn't realize till a few hours ago...you should feel lucky." Percy turned to full on look at Nico, his eyes content.

"He can be such an idiot, and sometimes I feel like he smothers me...but I like it. It reminds me of Bianca and Hazel…" Realizing what he had just said, Nico's inwardly screamed at himself. Percy seemed overjoyed though, as if Nico talking about his feelings was the best part of the day.

"They're great people, Nico...all of them…"

Nico knew Percy was hinting at Bianca, but he could not handle that conversation right now. Probably not ever. Faking a yawn, the son of Hades stretched slightly, and tried to look as tired as possible.

"I'm sorry but, I'm just," fake yawn, "really tired…"

"No problem." Percy said standing up and hovering over Nico's bed.

Their eyes locked one more time, and Percy grinned at him, reaching out to push his shoulder slightly.

"Don't get your leg cut open again," Percy said, already walking backwards towards the exit. "Respect your elders...don't get too sassy…don't wear white after Labor day...look both ways before crossing the street…and for gods sake Nico! Stop laughing these are serious life lessons!" Nico had started giggling and Percy joined in as he reached the exit doorway. He nodded his head and waved goodbye, calling, "I'll see you later," a half smile still on his face.

And then he was gone.

Nico leaned back against his pillow and tried to ignore the rapid flutters of his heart.

"_And I had just gotten over you too,_" Nico sighed inwardly. Groaning in frustration, Nico shot up in bed, his eyes immediately falling on Jason's open ones. They stared at each other for a few seconds in shock, before a grin spread across Jason's face.

"I _smother_ you?"

Nico just fell backward onto his pillow as Jason's laugh rumbled throughout the entire room, distracting Nico from his old feelings about Percy, flooding back into his heart.


End file.
